Birthday Sheet Cake: Barefoot Bloggers

This is my first post for the Barefoot Bloggers! I was so excited to join this group! I'd been thinking about it for awhile, but wanted to wait until after our recent move so that I could start out on track and not miss any recipes. For those who don't know, Barefoot Bloggers is a group of people with food blogs that set out to make 2 Ina Garten recipes per month. There is a rotation to determine who picks the recipes and assigned dates to post the recipes in your blog. The group's website can be found here: Barefoot Bloggers. I love watching Ina on the Food Network and wanted to join the group so I could start making more of her recipes. This first one was excellent! I ended up making a few modifications. I don't have any sheet pans, so I read through the reviews on foodnetwork.com and saw that at least one person had baked the cake in a 13x9 pan and had successful results, so I made it in that size pan as well. Also, I'm not a fan of lemon/citrus flavors, and the cake called for lemon zest. Instead I used almond extract and just a hint of vanilla. It turned out delicious! When it came to the frosting, I halfed the recipe and still had some leftover. I read some reviews from foodnetwork.com that said it was too chocolately, not sweet enough; but, I am definitely a dark chocolate fan so I thought it was great.

Birthday Sheet Cake
from Ina Garten via foodnetwork.com

Ingredients

For the cake:

18 tablespoons (2 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 cups sugar
6 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
8 ounces (about 1 cup) sour cream, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract (I used 1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract and just a dash of vanilla.)
1 lemon, zested (I omitted this.)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

For the frosting:
24 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
Chocolate candies for decorating (recommended: M&M's)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 12 by 18 by 1 1/2-inch sheet pan.

To make the cake, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. On medium speed, add the eggs, 2 at a time, then the sour cream, vanilla, and lemon zest, scraping down the bowl as needed. Mix well. Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir just until smooth. Finish mixing by hand to be sure the batter is well mixed. Pour evenly into the pan, smooth the top with a spatula, and bake in the center of the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan to room temperature.

For the frosting, place the chocolate chips and heavy cream in a bowl set over a pot of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until the chips are completely melted. Off the heat, add the corn syrup and vanilla and allow the chocolate mixture to cool to room temperature. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the chocolate mixture and softened butter on medium speed for a few minutes, until it's thickened.

Spread the frosting evenly on the cake. Decorate the cake as desired.